When the Park Fire tore through Butte County, California, in the summer of 2024, it tore apart the community fabric of places like Cohasset, a small rural town whose population dropped from roughly 850 to about 275 in its aftermath. For the survivors who stayed, the road to rebuilding was daunting: a non-federally declared disaster zone meant reduced access to FEMA support, leaving families to navigate contractors, permits, insurance claims, and recovery programs largely on their own.
Northern Valley Catholic Social Service (NVCSS) saw an opportunity to bridge the gap between the people who needed to rebuild and the local contractors, county agencies, nonprofits, and neighbors who could help them do it. Between February and August 2025, NVCSS convened ten events across Butte County, ranging from technical workshops on permitting and construction to a chili cook-off and a community bazaar, creating spaces where people could build shared trust while gaining practical knowledge. The community’s knowledge and sense of connection shifted over the course of this project. After the first Building Workshop, residents spread the word, and recruited neighbors to the additional sessions they requested on the building process and do’s and don’ts.
The result was a community equipped to lead its own recovery. Contractors who had no prior relationship with Disaster Case Managers now work alongside them. Residents are now empowered to actively pursue rebuilding with trusted neighbors instead of passively receiving services from providers and agencies they don’t know.
Butte County, located in Northern California, is home to approximately 211,000 people, spread across a landscape that blends urban hubs and rural communities. The city of Chico serves as the largest urban center, and smaller towns like Oroville, Paradise, and Gridley add to its rural character. The county is diverse, with a racial composition of about 70% white, 16% Hispanic or Latino, 6% Asian, 2% Black, and Native American populations, among others. A significant number of residents live in wildfire-prone or economically vulnerable areas. Prior to the Park Fire, the rural town of Cohasset in Butte County had a population of about 850 people. In the wake of the fire, that number dropped dramatically to about 275, underscoring the profound impact on an already small, close-knit community.
In late 2024, the NVCSS project team was working to design and implement a bridgebuilding initiative that centered their work on respect, relationships, and cooperation. They built out a list of potential partners, including community members, nonprofits, and disaster response agencies to strengthen coordination and collaboration. In this phase, NVCSS began its outreach to Cohasset residents and local partners by introducing the vision of Team Up and inviting input, planting the first seeds of collaboration and trust. The project team started sharing updates through existing NVCSS newsletters and outreach events to build early awareness within the community and among stakeholders.
As 2025 started, NVCSS focused on planning and coordination—scheduling training sessions, aligning with partners, preparing materials, and promoting upcoming events through flyers, newsletters, and social media. Working alongside the Cohasset Community Association Board and Valley Contractors Exchange, NVCSS co-designed a series of tailored events where the team could introduce their approach while building community trust by listening to survivors’ stories and concerns. They started a journal to track Team Up activities and insights; originally set up to accurately report progress, this journal turned into an essential tool for ensuring accountability, measuring progress, and staying on track. The team traveled to Chicago for a national Team Up convening that brought new strategies, connections, and best practices back to Butte County. Team Up was also featured in NVCSS’s Emerging Leaders Program. All of this work laid the groundwork for the high-impact events coming up in the next few months.
Events at a glance
| Feb 25 · Valley Contractors Exchange Training | 16 attendees | Disaster Case Managers across Butte County trained on contractor engagement, permitting timelines, and best practices for the rebuild process. |
| Feb 27 · Cohasset Community Association Board Presentation | 8 attendees | NVCSS presented Team Up goals, earning board buy-in and beginning a co-design partnership. |
| Feb 28 · Key Stakeholders Convening | 21 attendees | Nonprofits, local government, and service providers gathered to identify gaps and align recovery strategies. |
| Mar 8 · Cohasset Community Meeting | 36 attendees | Survivors shared stories and heard about rebuilding resources in an open listening session. |
| Apr 27 · Cohasset Chili Cook-Off | 150 attendees | A relaxed community event connecting families with CalFresh, Disaster Case Management, and recovery resources. |
| May 9 · Contractors Luncheon | 10 attendees | Contractors, case managers, and agency reps exchanged knowledge and sparked new partnerships. |
| May 13 · Building Workshop | 26 attendees | Hands-on session with subject matter experts covering permits, timelines, contractor selection, and rebuilding best practices. |
| Jun 7 · Cohasset Community Outreach Event | 65 attendees | Held during food box distribution; 10+ partner agencies provided disaster recovery services, raffle prizes, and direct aid. |
| Jul 8 · United Policyholders Insurance Workshop | 27 attendees | Insurance experts guided survivors through claims navigation, coverage, and legal resources. |
| Aug 2 · 54th Annual Cohasset Bazaar | 350+ attendees | Music, food, vendor booths, and partner resources to mark the one-year anniversary of the Park Fire and close out the project year. |
By February 2025, the team was ready to go. They brought together representatives from nonprofits, local government, and service providers for the first time to identify gaps and align services. The team distributed Listos Ready Guides and preparedness resources at food banks and outreach sites, increasing survivor engagement and reinforcing disaster preparedness.
In the Spring, NVCSS focused on rebuilding workshops and activities that emphasized survivor-centered recovery, collaborating with Valley Contractors Exchange, Butte County Building Department, and the Cohasset Community Association to host a Contractors’ Luncheon and a Building Workshop, where survivors could engage in hands-on learning about permits, timelines, and rebuilding best practices. At the Cohasset Chili Cook-Off, NVCSS shared bridgebuilding goals directly with residents in actual conversations, not just presentations at the front of a room.
At the Cohasset Community Outreach event in June, where 15 community organizations were present, NVCSS met one-on-one with survivors to provide critical information and resources. Later, the Educational Workshop on Navigating Insurance, co-planned with United Policyholders, ensured that survivors had a full understanding of their coverage and provided practical tools for households that were still navigating the insurance process post-disaster. The 54th Annual Cohasset Bazaar & Music Festival drew over 400 attendees – a major outreach success. Survivors engaged directly with partner agencies and other local organizations, while NVCSS ensured smooth operations for the day.
Survivors left each of these events with actionable steps, while partners gained stronger collaboration tools to support long-term disaster recovery efforts in Butte County and beyond. Each event was an opportunity to capture new lessons learned, allowing the team to iterate and make adjustments when needed, and to replicate what was working well.
To close out a successful project, NVCSS assisted the Cohasset Steering Committee in drafting a $50,000 infrastructure grant for the Cohasset Community Center, which funded kitchen, bathroom, and ADA ramp upgrades. This period solidified NVCSS as both a convener and capacity-builder, with their approach to integrating Disaster Case Management with technical workshops, community outreach, and outcome harvesting leading to increased efficiency, trust, and reach.
Throughout the initiative, the team piloted feedback and evaluation tools, and the Cohasset Community Association served as an ongoing feedback loop between residents and the project team. The journal that the project team originally started to keep track of efforts and outcomes for accurate reporting became a crucial source of knowledge, documenting successes and lessons learned. Because NVCSS and their partners will be there for survivors well beyond this project, it was key for case managers to build real connections with survivors. Thanks to the relationships built throughout the project year, the team has been able to directly follow up with participants and ensure a continuity of services.
NVCSS gathered direct verbal feedback through in-person conversations following each community event to understand what worked well and what needed improvement. Community partners and contractors shared their observations in follow-up discussions and emails to the NVCSS project team, providing insight into how the collaboration supported their goals and what gaps remained. For Cohasset-specific events, the Cohasset Community Association relayed resident feedback. This combination of informal, written, and partner-driven input ensured that the project remained responsive, adaptive, and community-centered.
United Policyholders: Navigating Your Insurance Workshop on July 8, 2025.
Across ten events spanning six months, NVCSS created spaces where survivors could get real answers from real people. No two events looked the same. Some provided technical training and support, like the Building Workshop and Insurance Workshop, where residents sat down with county building officials, contractors, and insurance experts to work through the specific obstacles standing between them and a rebuilt home. Others were social, like the Chili Cook-Off and the Bazaar, where recovery resources were woven into community gatherings rather than formal presentations.
At every event, NVCSS Disaster Case Managers were on hand to make connections. They identified individual household needs on the spot, made referrals, and followed up afterward to ensure survivors left with concrete next steps. Partners, including the Butte County Building Department, Valley Contractors Exchange, Habitat for Humanity, United Policyholders, the Global Empowerment Mission, and CalFresh outreach teams, contributed expertise, supplies, and staffing to expand what any single organization could offer.
Approximately 50 volunteers supported the project: about 20 engaged in outreach and logistics across events, and about 30 Cohasset community members partnered through the Cohasset Community Association Board, ensuring events were rooted in local knowledge and trust. After the first Building Workshop, residents began asking their neighbors to attend and requesting more sessions, a ripple effect that demonstrated genuine community investment in the work.
The Team Up Project sees differences as a strength. Using a Respect–Relate–Cooperate framework, programs can encourage participants to engage across differences around a common goal or value by respecting others’ identities and perspectives, building mutually positive relationships, and working together across backgrounds on shared concerns.
Cohasset Chili Cook-Off on April 27, 2025.
For NVCSS, respect started with centering survivor voices in the design of every event, and designing events around what residents said they needed rather than what agencies assumed. Stakeholder convenings opened with listening and consistently made space for survivors’ stories and concerns to be heard.
Social events like the Chili Cook-Off and Bazaar were intentional community-building spaces, not just service delivery. Contractors and survivors sat at the same tables. Neighbors who had not spoken since the fire reconnected. NVCSS co-created workshops and convenings with partners where contractors, case managers, county agencies, and residents could build genuine relationships alongside accessing resources and technical knowledge. The project’s core premise was that lasting recovery in Butte County would require resources, but also substantial trust between the people delivering them and the community receiving them.
Cooperation became concrete through the shared resources and products that were developed by working together with community partners. The From Cleanup to Keys guide was developed collaboratively with the Butte County Building Department, Valley Contractors Exchange, and Habitat for Humanity. It is now distributed across multiple agencies who were operating in silos prior to this bridgebuilding project.
The project produced both concrete resources and lasting relationships. From Cleanup to Keys: A Survivor’s Guide to Rebuilding in Butte County, the first resource of its kind in the region, is now distributed across multiple partner agencies. Contractors who had no prior connection to Disaster Case Managers now work alongside them. The Cohasset Community Association emerged as a stronger institution with deeper ties to the county’s recovery network.
Relationships come before logistics, and communication has to be layered and flexible: no single channel reaches everyone. Small wins matter — a single workshop may not solve every problem, but it can create ripples. Flexibility is essential in post-disaster contexts, where schedules shift, volunteers become unavailable, partners change plans at the last minute, and everyone is working through their own trauma. Above all, community-led proved to be community-sustained: events ran more smoothly, and their impact lasted longer, when local volunteers and the Cohasset Community Association assumed real ownership.
The model of intentional partnership, inclusive stakeholder convenings, and survivor-centered programs that NVCSS implemented in Butte County is well-suited to any community navigating high-stress recovery or rebuilding and seeking to reduce service fragmentation. Disaster recovery networks like Long-Term Recovery Groups (LTRGs) and Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) benefit from structured collaboration and storytelling during high-stress recovery efforts. Following a disaster, civic organizations and local governments can use Team Up resources to reduce polarization and foster trust in decision-making. The From Cleanup to Keys guide and the Bridgebuilding in Disaster Recovery Manual developed by NVCSS offer replicable tools for organizations in other disaster-affected regions.
Relationships come before logistics. Survivors, contractors, and agency partners engaged more fully once they saw that NVCSS genuinely listened and valued their input. Invest time up front in relationship building before expecting outcomes.
Communication needs to be layered and flexible. No single channel reaches everyone. Flyers, social media posts, word of mouth, and in-person outreach at food distributions all served different segments of the community. Use multiple methods and platforms, and repeat key information consistently.
Small wins matter. A single workshop may not solve every problem, but it can create ripples: one family finding a contractor, one survivor feeling heard for the first time. Celebrate these victories that may be small in the whole scope of the effort but huge in their impact on individuals.
Community-led is community-sustained. Events ran more smoothly, and their impact lasted longer, when local volunteers and the Cohasset Community Association assumed real ownership. After the first Building Workshop, residents spread the word themselves and asked for more. Give the community a central role where they can lead, not just inform.
Flexibility is essential in post-disaster contexts. Schedules shift, volunteers become unavailable, and partners change plans at the last minute. And, everyone is working on this project through their own trauma. Rigidity does not work. Keep backup options ready and focus on the long-term goal even over perfect events.
